10 Great Movies You'll Only Want To Watch Once
5. Grave Of The Fireflies (1988)
Studio Ghibli is arguably the greatest animation company in the world. With delightful films like My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo and Porco Rosso, and darker tales like Spirited Away, Ghibli caters to children and adults alike. Their sophomore feature, 1988's Grave of the Fireflies, stands out among their canon as their most adult feature - a relentlessly gloomy war film which would likely have been rated R if it was live action.
It follows two children, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, after they are forced flee their home town during World War II. That the story opens with the discovery of Seita's corpse says a lot about the film. Grave of the Fireflies is not your standard Disney fare, and it doesn't shy away from the horrors of war. Seita must confront his horrifically burned and dying mother, and later takes care of his starving sister.
The film opens on an upsetting note and doesn't let up from there. The firebombing of Kobe is harrowing, and Seita and Setsuko's subsequent struggle to survive is one of the harshest narratives ever told - animated or otherwise. From Setsuko's grief over the death of the titular fireflies to Seita's cremation of his sister's body, only the hardest of viewers will make it to the end credits with dry eyes.
Like all of Studio Ghibli's output, Grave of the Fireflies is a beautiful and captivating film, but it is certainly not one that you will want to watch time and time again.